The New Era
by Scout Master 5
Summary: New Captains! and a plot involving Urahara. how will soul society cope with these changes... Read and find out! *On hiatus*
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own bleach or any of the characters however the OCs introduced in this chapter and upcoming are mine.

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

"This meeting will now come to order, let us begin the welcoming ceremony." Captain Commander of the Gotei 13 banged his favorite wooden stick on the ground.

The captains haven't not seen each other in a while were chattering away, wondering what could have brought about a meeting during these peaceful times for Aizen had been defeated for a year and a half; now formed their ranks and stood quietly facing their commander. Not much had changed in the soul society in fact they had just finished rebuilding the fake Karakura town and had souls from the overflowing Rukongai moving there. Yamamoto had seen no reason to take down the building and even denied the request of the 12 squad lab relocating there.

"The purpose of this meeting is to inform you that we have managed to fill in the remaining captain positions." Yamamoto said.

"Took you long enough old man." Kenpachi said

Byakuya raised his hand to speak. "So-taicho I must express my concerns about this matter, we must not overlook like that fact that we had an incident like this once before, the perpetrator being Amagai Shusuke."

"Who gives a crap" Kenpachi replied. "I didn't even have a crack at that bastard Amagai, but the main purpose here is if these new recruits are up for it. I'd hate to work with someone weak. Say could I have a crack at them, am itching for a good fight it has been a while?"

"And the Barbarian strikes again" Mayuri shrugged.

"What you say you crazy scientist?" Kenpachi growled. "If you stop getting holed up in that dingy lab of yours then maybe you could toughen up a bit more!"

"Someone with your primitive brain will never understand the importance a brilliant scientist like me holds within this society." Mayuri retaliated.

"They never change do they?" Toushirou muttered to himself "Always fighting among themselves these crazy old guys."

"Captain Soifon, Captain Komamura, anything more you'd like to add?" Yamamoto said interrupting the arguments.

"No sir" Soifon said.

"I trust your Judgment" Komamura added

Byakuya stepped forward. "We all do, all I am implying is…

"Captain Kuchiki," Yamamoto stopped him. "your concern was one of the first among others on my mind, however we cannot let the positions remain unfilled, one can only hope this time we made the right decision. On another note, I have observed the new captains and we, including the other captains present at the exams are satisfied with their skills and potential as such they do have what it takes to be a captain."

Byakuya bowed and stepped back in line

"Enter and introduce yourselves." Yamamoto called, every head swiveled towards the entrance as the doors opened and three men entered.

The person on the right stepped forward, he had sea blue eyes and the same colored hair which was long and sleek and held in a ponytail, he stood at 186 cm (6'1") and has a muscular body. He wore a sleeveless shihakusho and also a sleeveless haori exposing weird tattoos on both his muscular arms. His blue and white hilted sword had an oval shaped guard which was tied to his right hip by a white obi.

"Sir" he said as he stood at attention. "I am the former captain of the Kido Corps. My name is Jay. I am pleased at the prospect of working together with you all.

"Jay here will be the 3rd squad captain from now on" Yamamoto addressed the other captains before the directing jay to his spot.

The next to step forward was young, looking like he was in his early twenties. He was dark skinned with green eyes, short black hair and long, thin sideburns. He stood at 180cm (5'11") and has a lean body. He wore the standard Shinigami uniform with the standard haori that looked too big for him. He had two swords; one was a long nodachi which he carries on his back strapped with a green sash and the second was an ordinary katana on his left hip supported with a green obi. Both also had green hilts with a skull shaped guard.

"The name is shibusawa Moe, until now, I was the fifth seat of the 8th division, I hope we can get along together." He said cheerfully

"Very well, this is our 5th squad captain" Yamamoto said also directing him to his place.

"I can see why Kyoraku took a liking to him" Soifon whispered to Unohana.

Yamamoto cleared his throat as the last person stepped up, doing his best to hide his nerves. He looked around the room, gulped and started.

"Nice to meet ya'll" he scratched his black spiky head, he had yellow eyes and his physique made it look like a good gust of wind could blow him away anytime.

"My name is Isaac, former third seat of the second squad and head of the detention unit"

He wore the standard shihakusho, a sleeveless haori and was holding his sword in his hand.

"Doesn't he kinda look like you Hitsugaya Kun?" Kyoraku asked

"Like hell."

"You never know he might be your long lost brother or something." Kyoraku laughed "see, same height and everything."

"Stop with the jokes please." Hitsugaya muttered.

"Isaac here will be the new 9th squad captain; this meeting is adjourned until further notice." Yamamoto concluded.

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><p>Karakura Town<p>

Ichigo groaned as he collapsed unto the sofa, his muscles aching. Helping his dad out in the clinic is a tough job especially if you're the only muscle. It's been tough for him these past few months true he's had less work to do because of the loss of his Shinigami powers but his other duties have increased as a result and his 3rd year at Karakura high has not helped. Every day without fail, he was given tons of homework to do and he couldn't help but feel sorry for Keigo who looked like he was about to collapse due to stress.

He got up, glanced at the clock, shrugged that it was 9pm and started walking towards the stairs, thinking he might as well get an early shower and sleep if he was to move tomorrow. Just as he reached the staircase, he heard the doorbell ring. Wondering who might be visiting at this hour, he removed his foot from the bottom stair and crossed the threshold pouting. He opened the door and his eyes widened in surprise as he saw his surprise visitor.

"Mr. Ichigo" Ururu said in a flat robot-like voice due to her genocide mode. "A package for you" she handed a small, brown, hastily wrapped package before collapsing on the welcome mat blood seeping through the floor.

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><p>AN: there you have it folks end of chapter one. This was just the introduction. Next chapter the events unfold and the action starts. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND PLEASE REVIEW.


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I do not own bleach or any of the characters however the OCs introduced in this chapter and upcoming are mine.

THE NEW ERA

CHAPTER 2

"Dammit!" Ichigo cursed as he lifted the almost lifeless body and carried her to his father's clinic.

"OI… DAD, GET IN HERE!"

Isshin came running, wondering why his idiot of a son was screaming at this time of the night. Taking one look at Ururu, he pulled his doctor's coat onto his pajamas, all traces of drowsiness gone from his face.

"Set her down here, quickly and gently" he immediately began to administer first aid while Ichigo looked on helplessly.

"Who could have inflicted such horrible wounds on this poor young lady, I can feel a creepy reiatsu lingering at the wounds making me hard to treat them, and I'm no good at Kido healer's technique either." He muttered to himself while Karin and Yuzu bustled about carry bandages and other supplies on his orders.

"What is reiatsu?" Yuzu asked puzzled

"Ichigo, go and call that healer friend of yours, Orihime was it?" Isshin ignored Yuzu.

Ichigo ran to his bedroom, picked up his phone and dialed Orihime's number.

"Kurosaki kun, I was just about to call you, I have to tell you something, hang on I'll be there as fast as I can." She hung up.

10 minutes later, the doorbell rang; Ichigo flung it open and led Orihime to the clinic. She took one look at Ururu's pale body and brought out her shunshunrika, starting the process of healing her.

"Do not worry Kurosaki kun, this will take time but I can erase the negative reiatsu before healing her." She said.

"Wait… you've done this before?" Ichigo asked. "Inoue what is going on?"

"Chad and Uryu were attacked" she said calmly.

"WHAT!"

"Yeah and I detected the same reiatsu as this one here" she pointed at Ururu's wounds.

"Where are they now?" Ichigo asked getting up

"What can you do, sit down Ichigo" Isshin said.

Ichigo grudgingly sat down pouting.

"In the hospital, Ishida kuns dad is looking after them" she said.

"Why is this happening now?" Ichigo exclaimed. "If only I had my Shinigami powers!"

Suddenly, he jumped up, startling his dad and Orihime.

"Be right back." He said walking to his room.

He sat down on his bed and took out the package he got from Ururu, massaging the burn in his leg it had caused. Why it did that, he had no clue. Opening it, he was blinded as the whole room illuminated purple before he hastily wrapped it again. A note fell off and he picked it up, it contained three words: _**SEE THE VIZARDS. **_

Deciding he would worry about that later, he headed back to the clinic, bidding goodnight to his sisters who were off to bed. His dad was crashed at the couch snoring softly; Ichigo couldn't blame him, today was a particularly hectic day for him after all. Back in the clinic, he pulled up a chair and watched silently as Orihime continued to heal Ururu.

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><p>Ichigo woke with a start next morning, the sun blazing through the window and into the clinic. He looked at the sleeping form of Orihime, her head in her arms. He retrieved a blanket from the cupboard and covered her, the faintest traces of smile on his face. He now looked at Ururu glad that there was colour coming back to her face. Being a weekend, he put on his coat and headed towards the hospital. Arriving, he was told that they had been discharged so he called and invited them over for lunch. Once they had arrived, Ichigo wasted no time in bombarding them with questions.<p>

"Calm down Kurosaki" Ishida said fingering his glasses.

In that instant, Orihime came running into the living room.

"Kurosaki kun, she's awake!" she cried delightedly.

"Inoue san, why are you here?" Chad asked.

"Healing Ururu chans injuries." She replied "are you two okay?"

"We are fine" Ishida said impatiently.

They all followed Ichigo into the clinic; saw Isshin standing over Ururu who was helping herself to some porridge.

"Ururu, I'm glad to see you're alright." Ichigo said.

"Thank you for helping me, but I'm afraid I have some bad news." Ururu replied setting down her empty bowl. " has been captured!"

There was a stunned silence.

"Let me start from the beginning." she said.

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><p><strong>FLASHBACK<strong>

_Urahara got up from where he was meditating in his small room._

"_They are here" he said as a humongous amount of reiatsu hit him._

"_Tessai san are you ready?" he called putting on his hat and clogs._

"_Yes boss." Tessai replied entering the room._

_Urahara then called Jinta and Ururu into the room._

"_It is time" he told them. "Tessai san and I will be going away for a while as we told you, you are to go to Kurosaki, deliver this package and if possible stay with him."_

"_Understood." Jinta saluted as Ururu pocketed the package. "So when do we lea..."_

_Urahara held up his hand to silence Jinta, listening closely._

"_Tessai san!" he grabbed Ururu and shunpoed outside the shop just as Tessai did the same grabbing Jinta. Seconds later, the shop exploded covering them with dust and broken pieces of wood flying everywhere. Urahara prodded Jinta and Ururu to make them start running, in order to utilize the dust as cover, while he himself squinted up at the sky towards the culprit._

"_Found ya!" a high pitched male voice shouted gleefully._

"_Hurry up and find what we are looking for, we don't have all day" a female voice barked bossily._

_The dust settled finally and the newcomers were revealed to be ARRANCARS._

"_Welcome to what's left of my shop, what can I do for you two?" Urahara tipped his hat eyeing them._

"_Don't worry yourself Shinigami; you wouldn't need it where we are going I assure you." The lady smiled; she had long purple hair that fell to her back and purple makeup, she wore the arrancar garb like a one piece dress which was revealing her ample bosom which could possibly be larger than Matsumoto Rangikus. She had a majestic look on her face and her broken mask was on her forehead like a tiara. Her sword held in her hand._

"_Aah… Blanca sama" the male arrancar addressed the female. "The small rats are running away, can I go and kill them please…Please…PLEASE?"_

"_I give you 10 minutes" she barked before turning to Urahara and Tessai._

_The shorter arrancar flew toward the other two grinning creepily, his bright yellow hair swaying with the wind, his sword on his back. Tessai made to follow but Urahara put his hand on Tessai's shoulder shaking his head._

"_Now then boys, why don't we behave like gentlemen and come with me? I'd rather not use force, I hate it when my clothes get dirty" Blanca's eyes twinkled._

"_RAIKOHO!" Tessai screamed thrusting his hands forward as yellow electrical energy flew towards Blanca._

"_Now that's just rude" she frowned tilting her face to the right to dodge the beam. "I guess I'll play with you for a while as we wait for my subordinate to return."_

_She sonidoed so fast, it was all Urahara could do to block the sword strike aiming for his heart._

_Jinta and Ururu kept running towards Ichigo's house ducking in-between alleyways to avoid being hit by the arrancar who was pelting them with ceros laughing insanely._

"_Come out, come out where ever you are" he cooed blasting a telephone pole that was until 3 seconds ago aiming at Jinta's head._

"_Ururu keep going, I will take this guy on then catch up to you." Jinta said as they hid behind a large dumpster._

"_But Jinta kun" she protested._

"_Go NOW!" Jinta roared pushing Ururu up the street as he turned to face the descending arrancar and drawing his metal bat._

"_Awww it's over already? Here I was enjoying the cat and mouse tag we had going on" the arrancar mocked. "You think you're cool, sacrificing yourself to save the girl, get real you little punk."_

"_JINTA HOMERUN!" Jinta shouted swinging his bat as hard as he could with a loud CLANG at the arrancar's chest._

"_Is that it?" the arrancar chewed his nails looking unconcerned. "That barely tickled."_

_Jinta groaned in pain, dropping his bat, his hands bleeding._

"_Even a Shinigami Captain cannot cut through this hierro, let alone a weak ass midget like you."_

_THUMP… Jinta got knocked out as the arrancar stepped over him. "I'll be back for you little one, as soon as I finish your girlfriend there" he flew towards Ururu._

_Ururu gasped for breath, it was all she could do to keep running. All her energy was being consumed as she fought not to enter genocide mode. The bleeding also did not help from the wounds the arrancar gave her; she would be in real trouble if she lost any more blood, already feeling light headed she stumbled on continuing her journey on will power alone. Seeing Urahara, Tessai and Jinta's faces in her subconscious mind, was the only thing keeping her going as the arrancar lazily floated above her deciding when to swoop in for the kill. Making up his mind, he went into a deep dive…_

"_LICHT REGEN!"_

_Thousands of arrows flew in between the arrancar and Ururu shielding her and forcing the arrancar to a halt. He turned around slowly looking at the newcomer. Ishida Uryu was standing on the ground, his bow Ginrei Kojaku directed at the arrancar's chest a look of fury on his face. _

"_Why don't you face me and stop tormenting the little girl?" he said coldly firing another volley of arrows at the arrancar who jumped high to dodge them._

"_Well now, you interrupted my meal, who might you be?" the arrancar asked._

"_I should ask you the same but judging from your appearance and reiatsu I'd say you're an arrancar" ishida replied "that being said, I cannot hold back on you knowing you'd be a danger to my friends."_

_Ishida used hirenkyaku to close in on the arrancar and started pelting him with arrows. The arrancar did not move as a cloud of dust surrounded him. When the dust cleared, ishida was shocked to see the arrancar standing there unharmed._

"_My turn!" he said closing in and punching ishida so hard that he fell back to the ground. _

_Ishida got up grunting and feeling his ribs broken, breathing hard, he wiped the blood from his eye as he raised his bow again._

"_Too slow" the arrancar said closing in again with incredible speed and kicking him in the abdomen sending him flying through an abandoned building._

"_ISHIDA!" Chad cried as he came running down the street. "EL DIRECTO" he shouted sending wave of spiritual energy towards the arrancar, who quickly jumped to the sky to avoid the attack._

"_One after the other" the arrancar snarled "this is getting annoying"_

_He descendent towards chad, aiming a kick at him. Chad waited for the last second, grabbed his ankle and threw him away. The arrancar back flipped in the air and used a pole as a launcher destroying it and launched him at chad again with double the speed, this time succeeded in tackling chad and sending him crashing towards a construction site. _

_Chad got to his feet, picked up a long pipe and hurled it towards the arrancar who blasted it away with a bala. The arrancar then aimed a yellow cero at chad, to which he proceeded to activate his Brazo Derecha de Gigante to block it. However, the force of the cero was so great that it sent chad through the poles that were holding the building up, causing it to crash to the ground upon him. Chad activated his left arm Brazo Izquierda del Diablo to break free of the surrounding rubble._

_Elsewhere the female arrancar Blanca raised her reiatsu, tired of waiting for her subordinate to comeback. The unconscious forms of Urahara and Tessai at her feet. _

"_Well it looks like the mistress is finished" the arrancar told chad who stood frozen at the prospect of her humongous reiatsu. "It's been fun playing with you but I gotta leave now. Until next time." _

_Before chad blinked, the arrancar had descended upon him using sonido and slashed him straight down the middle before sonido-ing away towards her mistress._

"_Im..po..sible?" Chad grunted before fainting._

_Blanca saw her subordinate speeding towards her holding the unconscious form of Jinta._

"_What took you so long?" she said annoyed_

"_Sorry ma'am but others intervened. I've taken care of them no worries." He replied._

"_Good lets go, the master will be pleased" she said opening up a garganta and stepping through, followed by her subordinate who was carrying all three unconscious bodies grunting under the pressure. _

"That's what happened, after that I think I entered genocide mode because I couldn't remember the rest." Ururu finished.

"Moments later, I arrived on the scene healing them before Ishida's dad arrived, insisting they be taken to his hospital." Orihime said

"So basically, Mr. Hat and clogs has been kidnapped and the arrancar are back?" Ichigo asked

Ururu, Chad and Ishida all nodded.

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><p>AN: Took me a while but here it is. A big thank you to metsfan101 for being the first to review my story. Greatly appreciated and hope you will keep on reading and reviewing. That being said, I would appreciate any review as this is my first fanfic. I am hoping to get a feedback from any of you as to how to improve my story. The next chapter will focus on the events in soul society. HAPPY NEW YEAR!


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I do not own bleach or any of the characters however the OCs introduced in this chapter and upcoming are mine.

**THE NEW ERA**

**CHAPTER 3**

Isaac, the new captain of squad nine, stood up quietly and exited the bar, sliding the door shut, the raucous inside mostly from the partying members of squad nine drowning immediately. He walked swiftlyand briskly up the darkened street which was only illuminated a little by the moonlight; intending to investigate a foreign reiatsu that he did not recognize but could tell that the owner had masked it for some reason.

"Why don't you go back to the party and enjoy yourself Shuhei kun," Isaac slowed down.

"Captain, please call me Hisagi," Shuhei said as he caught up with Isaac bringing with him the smell of sake.

They rounded a corner and followed a path that was leading towards the squad 11 barracks.

"I have business to attend to Hisagi, and I'd rather you did not come with me," Isaac said as they turned at another corner.

Hisagi shivered slightly as the night wind picked up, Isaac increased his speed yet again, his sword on his right hand, his haori fluttering with the wind.

"I was under the impression that you were heading back to the barracks, but this is the way to squad 11" Hisagi said pointing to his left as they halted at a junction.

"On second thought, come with me I need to confirm something that has been nagging me."

They turned right instead and walked away from squad 11, down a narrow street, Hisagi struggling to keep up with the captain, as he wondered where they were going at this time of the night. As they reached the end of the street, they emerged at a large, squared, clearing, and dead-end surrounded by walls.

"What's going on Captain, there is nothing h…" Hisagi frowned as the captain waved his hand to silence him.

"You can come out now, I know you are there!" Isaac called out into the clearing.

"And here I thought I had completely masked my presence," a male voice said as a figure suddenly appeared, standing on the wall directly in front of them.

From what Isaac could tell in the dark, the figure was a bit stocky in built and about 5ft 9 while he himself was only 5ft 1. He was wearing a long dark overcoat with a black hat that had a white feather sticking out of the right side.

The male jumped down the wall, landing quietly, and walked leisurely towards Isaac and Hisagi.

"Who the hell are you!" Hisagi's hand jumped to his sword.

"Well I wonder" the male's hands gestured in an _'I don't know'_ fashion.

"Am I right when I say that you're an arrancar?" Isaac said

"Impressive analysis little one." the arrancar said bowing slightly before resuming his stroll towards the other two.

"That is not possible." Hisagi whispered horror on his face.

"Hisagi, I need you to get a hold of yourself, which is the reason why I brought you with me. I need you to go and raise the intruder alarm right away and leave this guy to me" Isaac snapped his fingers in front of Hisagi to get his attention.

"But Captain if he is an arrancar, then all the more we should fight together."

"Do you doubt my abilities?"

"No sir!"

"Then get going immediately this is an order!" he said as Hisagi opened his mouth to argue some more.

Hisagi took a look at his captain's serious face and vanished with a whisper.

"Now we can't have that" the arrancar said as he withdrew a long nodachi from his coat and buzzing of towards Hisagi's retreating back. Isaac drew his own sword and whispered in the air between the arrancar and Hisagi, blocking the arrancar's sword, allowing Hisagi to escape unharmed.

"I shall be your opponent" Isaac said grinding his sword against the arrancar's own.

"Impressive speed little one, as expected of a Captain… But" The arrancar applied pressure sending Isaac crashing down to the ground, dust surrounding him as he struggled to get up from the middle of a large crater.

_What strength_ Isaac thought as he bent down to pick up his sword, his head pounding. He had never been one to use brute strength, as he was taught in the arts of assassination, he had always preferred to finish off his opponents quickly and silently, seldom he uses brute strength, but this time it was different, his opponent was on guard.

Isaac shunpoed behind the arrancar, swinging his sword from right to left intending to slice of the arrancar's head, but unfortunately for him, the arrancar had anticipated it; turning around, he raised his sword with his left hand and blocking Isaac's strike, followed up with a punch aiming his right fist at Isaac's jaw but hitting air as Isaac jumped back and landed on the wall. He looked up at the arrancar who was smirking at him.

"What's so funny?" Isaac demanded

"Oh nothing, just thinking of the quickest way to skewer you" the arrancar commented floating down and landed in the crater created by Isaac's fall.

Isaac jumped down towards the arrancar, swinging down horizontally with both hands, intending to cut the arrancar's right arm off. The arrancar jumped to his left to avoid the strike and stabbed at Isaac aiming for his heart. Isaac managed to deflect the blade slightly at the last second; jumping back, and clutching his ribcage while blood seeped through his torn haori onto his fingers.

"Finally serious huh… good" the arrancar said noticing the change in Isaac's eyes.

"On behalf of the gotei 13, I am hauling you in for questioning" Isaac said placing his blood soaked hand on his sword and taking a kendo stance.

"Try it if you can" the arrancar said also positioning his sword in front of him.

They both charged at the same time Isaac swinging right to left diagonally while the arrancar did the exact opposite. They clashed in a shower of sparks, the arrancar having the advantage in both height and strength started to push Isaac back. Isaac jumped back and fired "_Shakaho" _at the arrancar who dodged to his right clutching on to his hat with right hand.

Isaac then proceeded to fire several "_Shakaho's_" in rapid succession forcing the arrancar to dart around dodging them creating several small dents on the walls surrounding them. As the arrancar jumped up to avoid the last of the spells, he looked up eyes widening to see Isaac waiting for him, a grin on his face.

"Raikoho!" Isaac roared thrusting his hands in front of him as a large yellow electrical surge of spiritual energy engulfed the arrancar.

Isaac landed hands on his knees, breathing heavily; a level 60 hado without incantation taking a lot out of him.

"You fucked up now, that was my favorite hat!"

Isaac quickly looked up to see the arrancar glaring at him with fury and sporting a bald head, his hat now a pile of ash on the ground.

The arrancar sonidoed in front of Isaac, and swung from right to left at Isaac's head, his sword on his right hand; Isaac instinctively ducked, the shockwave created by the swing cutting the wall behind him. The arrancar stuck out his left foot, catching the captain on the chest and sending him flying into the already damaged wall.

The arrancar then sheathed his sword, walking in the opposite direction. Just as Isaac emerged from the rubble wincing, several things happened at once.

There was a large explosion coming from the direction of squad 12. The noise made Isaac's ears ring and looking towards the east, he saw flames almost twenty feet tall spreading and igniting other nearby buildings.

The sound of an opening garganta caught Isaac's attention as he looked at the arrancar stepping through it.

"Next take we meet again, I'll make sure to feed your corpse to the hollows, until then remember the name Musashi as it will be the last thing you will hear little captain!" The garganta closed.

Cursing, Isaac walked towards the first squad barracks clutching his ribs again which has restarted stinging as the intruder alarm sounded too late.

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><p>AN: I know this chapter is a bit short, sorry about that. I couldn't update early because I was out of commission.

I would really appreciate it if you guys reviewed. Thanks.


	4. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: I do not own bleach or any of the characters however the OCs introduced in this chapter and upcoming are mine.

**THE NEW ERA**

**CHAPTER 4**

Kurotsuchi Mayuri was waving his hands frantically as he ordered his members to pick up the pace.

"Hurry up and contain that fire!" he barked, "If I lose my research materials, I will use each and every one of you as test subjects."

It was chaos; not counting the alarm that was going off in all of seireitei, the 12 squad members hurried up and down with buckets of water, in hopes of slowing down the fire, to no avail, which had consumed half of the barracks, and was spreading at an alarmingly fast rate. The only safe location was a warehouse situated behind the Research and Development Institute were Mayuri kept his research specimens and materials in which he scoured the world to find. The researchers ran in and out of the institute carrying as much equipment and articles as they can, moving it into the warehouse supervised by Nemu. Within minutes, the whole Institute was on fire, making it impossible to enter. Nemu appeared alongside her father who was standing in front of the warehouse, watching the flames burn down his beloved lab.

"Mayuri sama, we managed to save only 30% of our research" she reported in her monotonous voice.

"Sir, we are almost out of water!" a member called out.

Mayuri could only grunt in frustration, as Jay appeared, walking up to Mayuri.

"I've come to help; Head Captain's orders." Jay told Mayuri.

"I am perfectly capable of handling this myself" Mayuri snapped irritated, turning his head to look at Jay, only to discover he wasn't there anymore.

Looking forward, he saw Jay ordering his members to stand back. Once the last person had scurried off into a safe distance, Jay faced the fire, pulled out his sword and activated his shikai.

* * *

><p>Isaac knocked and at the sound of Yamamoto's voice, entered the assembly hall, all eyes instantly taking in his appearance. Aside from his dirty haori and a bloodied patch on his ribcage, he thought he looked fine. Doing his best to hide what he can, Isaac took his place next to Komamura (Kenpachi wasn't present), deliberately keeping his eyes averted from the other captains. Yamamoto finally cleared his throat and everyone's attention snapped back towards him.<p>

"Report." he addressed to no one in particular.

Jay stepped forward, glancing at Mayuri before speaking.

"The fire that erupted in the 12th division has been contained. Fortunately, it did not spread too far, the only causalities was the barracks itself, everybody is safe."

"Good work." Yamamoto commented also looking at Mayuri, who had a crazy glint in his eye.

Jay stepped back in line. Isaac then came forward and started giving out his report about his encounter with the arrancar. Several times he was in danger of being interrupted, but fortunately the captains especially Mayuri managed to control their urges till the end of his report to bombard him with questions.

"Why did you let him escape?" Mayuri breathed as soon as Isaac finished, "Someone with your skills could have captured him no problem."

"I got distracted by that large explosion" he replied scratching his head embarrassedly and wincing slightly while shifting his injury so it could be blocked by Komamura's huge body. Unohana's eyes narrowed.

"Well obviously you're not….." Mayuri started but was interrupted by Kyoraku.

"Come on give him a break, everyone makes mistakes."

"Judging by the location of the encounter, I wouldn't be surprised; I mean anybody would be surprised by that explosion being that close to it, it could be heard throughout the whole of seireitei." Ukitake chipped in.

Isaac had only a brief moment to feel grateful to the two elder captains when Soifon took the stage.

"I agree with captain Kurotsuchi; something that insignificant isn't supposed to divert you away from your objective, we have lost our only lead to what could become the beginning of a new threat to soul society."

Isaac was speechless.

"Aren't you overreacting a little bit, captain Soifon?" Shibusawa Moe asked, "For all we know, he could have been a rogue arrancar trying to get revenge for his fallen comrades and from what I've heard, the arrancar had been defeated in the last winter war."

"That does not add up," Byakuya spoke up for the first time, "Why just blow up the lab if he was looking for revenge, there are several locations in the seireitei that could have done more damage."

"Maybe… it was meant to be a distraction or warning to something bigger." Komamura said.

"Or he could have been covering up his tracks." Hitsugaya added.

There was a moments silence as each captain was absorbed in thoughts. Then Soifon stepped up.

"Sir, I recently received news from the real world that Kurosaki Ichigo's human friends were badly injured and Urahara Kisuke had been captured by an unknown assailant."

Yamamoto opened his eyes slightly.

"Do you think the arrancar are the ones behind it?" Isaac asked, glad that the attention has been diverted from him.

"It's possible; I mean the only connection I can make with the bombing of Mayuri's lab is that Urahara used to be the 12th division captain." Ukitake said.

"That might explain a reason why the arrancar was able to enter soul society undetected," Soifon said "he must have turned traitor!"

"Now wait a minute Soifon, let's not jump to conclusions," Kyoraku said looking at Soifon, as his hands rose. "I doubt Kisuke kun would turn traitor that easily."

"He was exiled!" Soifon replied, "How hard could it be?"

"I still don't believe Urahara Kisuke was that kind of man"

"That man was a lazy, no good….."

"Alright, I've heard enough!" Yamamoto interrupted banging his cane on the wooden floor. "We need to move quickly."

The whole room went silent as he fully opened his eyes.

"Kurotsuchi Mayuri; you are to set up your lab temporarily in the fake Karakura town while the barracks is being repaired," Mayuri's eyes instantly lit up.

"Shunsui and Jushirou, you two will investigate the arrancar's purpose in soul society," Kyoraku tipped his hat in salute.

"Isaac, I want a full written report on my desk by tomorrow, then work with Soifon and her squad for a 24 hour patrol around the seireitei, nobody is to sneeze without my knowing it."

"Understood!" Soifon replied suddenly standing at attention.

"Finally, Hitsugaya Toushirou and Shibusawa Moe are to set off for the world of the living as soon as possible to investigate the disappearance of Urahara Kisuke. I fear that if he is involved, the soul society might be more in danger than we think. Meeting adjourned."

As everyone was leaving, Unohana moved straight to Isaac, motioning him to follow her. Mayuri was about to leave, eager to start his setup when Yamamoto called out.

"Kurotsuchi Mayuri, I will have a word before you leave!"

Mayuri had to mask his irritated face, as they watched everybody else leave. As Komamura closed the doors behind him, Yamamoto finally turned to the scientist.

"Did you accomplish the task I gave you?"

"I only managed to procure a sample from the prototype but," Mayuri now looked visibly disturbed.

"Good, then we shall proceed as planned." Yamamoto turned and walked towards his chair.

"You know if this backfires we are all doomed right!" the scientist blurted out in agitation.

"I'm well aware of the circumstances; but it's a risk we shall have to take." Yamamoto commented tiredly, exhaling slightly as he sat down.

"Very well, I shall make more as soon as I setup my lab, but you must know that a dosage only works for a certain amount of time."

"Tell me the details later." the old man waved the scientist off, who then left without another word.

* * *

><p>The garganta closed with a snap behind him, as Musashi watched the gates of Las Noches open. He nodded at a pair of sentries, who were standing on either side of the reinforced Iron Gate, sporting a long spear each. They bowed him through as he entered the gigantic palace, immediately taking a route which took him directly to the throne room, knowing his ass would be on the line if he doesn't report the moment he arrives.<p>

Nothing in the throne room had changed since Aizen's rein, the successor preferring to leave it as it is. Musashi entered the room, immediately and went down on one knee.

"I bring grave news with me your holy mightiness."

Overlooking the whole throne room, a large man sat on Aizen's former chair, looking down at Musashi, laughing, and stroking a puppy.

"Report!" he barked.

* * *

><p>AN: Let's see whether you guys can figure out who the successor is.

Big thanks to the people following up with the story and being patient with me.

Now that summer break is around the corner, I will be able to update more frequently.

Don't forget to review, I love reviews: XD


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